William F. Buckley Left Illegitimate Grandson Out Of His Will: "I Intentionally Make No Provisions For Said Jonathan, Who...Shall Be Deemed To Have Predeceased Me"

New York Post:

Before he died, William F. Buckley Jr. put his young grandson on the firing line.

The intellectual conservative icon - renowned for his erudition and use of uncommon words - excluded his son's illegitimate child from his massive estate, insisting the kid was dead in his eyes.

"I intentionally make no provision herein for said Jonathan, who for all purposes . . . shall be deemed to have predeceased me," Buckley's will says, according to the Hartford Courant.

The National Review founder and notable New Yorker instead left his entire estate - estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars - to his only child, Christopher Buckley, and Christopher's two older kids, Caitlin and William.

Jonathan, now 8, is the product of an Christopher's affair with book publicist Irina Woelfle.

Read the whole story: New York Post

Comments

[grizhead63]

What a wunnerful human bean. The father of the Neo-Con movement. The mother should definitely contest this gross miscarriage of justice; clearly Buckley was not of sound mind when he wrote the will.

[barelyhere]

The grandfather is not the one who was f............. around. He has the right to do what he wants with his money. It is up to his son now to include the boy he sired in his own will. Hopefully by the time the boy gets any money, he will be old enough to get the money directly so that the mother (Irina) does not lay her gold digging hands on it.

[maxfax]

What is it with conservatives? They love to screw around, they don't like the consequences though, and avoid them.

The NO values crowd.

[UsofA]

A man who for all his religiosity, had no soul.

[KarateKid]

Who cares? It's his money. How would any of you like others to comment on what YOU did with your money?

[fredlonsdale]

Poor Leona Hemsley.... She was so misunderstood

[CATO90025]

WFB's reference to the child as dead is legal rubric--part of boilerplate in Wills. And may or may not reflect Bill's attitude.

He could wish the kid a happy life--no ill-feelings. But just feel that actions deserve accountability.

Lets us be tolerant of Bill's actions. And not read too much and impute "legal constructs" as free-flowing prose.

[drumz]

A typical mean spirited republican. YES, REPUBLICAN!

[SlithyTove]

This poor child did not ask to be born, and does not deserve to be punished.

If there was a moral failing, it was on the part of those who brought him into this world; old man Buckley's married son could not keep his member in his pants. The mother is at least carrying out her parental duty of nurturing and raising the boy.

A small-minded and self-important man. Gore Vidal was right about him.

[odoreida]

The child is not being "punished." Grandchildren are normally not automatically entitled to inherit.

[SlithyTove]

I take your point. However, this was an EXPLICIT disinheritance, an intentional cutting off of someone of his own blood, and using snotty language like "deemed to have predeceased me". I submit the old man was exactly what I say he was.

[barelyhere]

I agree, it is his father who should now include him in his will.

[LRM216]

Too bad the pompous old stuffed shirt is already dead. It would have been delightful to be able to tell him to drop dead as a result of reading this story.

[richardgordon]

If you needed any proof that Repblican's are mean and small minded this is it.

[Yama]

You mean like Democrat, Leona Helmsley Leaving $12M to her dog and nothing to her grandchildren. Or being quoted by her maid as saying... "Only the little people pay taxes."?

Is that an example of some sort of proof about democrats?

[richardgordon]

I very much doubt this woman was a Democrat.

[drumz]

SHE WAS NOT A DEMOCRAT - LIAR!

[LRM216]

How ignorant are you? What a stupid thing to say. Democrat, republican, white, black, yellow or red, what does it matter. Mean people are mean people - period.

[richardgordon]

Here's are a a couple of other small minded mean ignorant Republicans:

Bill O'Reilly

Rush Limbaugh

I rest my case.

[drumz]

It was a truthful thing to say. You cannot deny that it is true.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

You're right, Buckley wasn't 'mean' or hateful or spiteful or elitist or self-righteous or arrogant or greedy because he was a Republican, he was a Republican because he was mean, hateful, spiteful, elitist, self-righteous, arrogant and greedy.

You also make a fine secondary point - trash comes in all colors & ideologies.

[Sparty1]

I do not condone WFB's actions, but it was his money to do with whatever way he deemed. I think that when you deal with a married man and get pregnant, you may also have to deal with him or his family not wanting anything to do with said child. In her case, they don't want anything to do with him. They both messed up, but this little boy has to be the one to deal with it. She may get an increase, but it doesn't seem as if he's going to get a Dad.

[LRM216]

True, he could do whatever he wanted with his money, and perhaps his son and the mother of the child should never had been together, but they were, and a child was born of that union. Why should an innocent child be made to suffer for it. The child should be supported by the wonderfully elite Buckley family, whether they saw him as a member or not.

[odoreida]

The child gets $36,000 a year -- to be spent on him alone -- so I doubt that he is "suffering." That's a lot more financial support than most children get.

[NotMcCain]

WFB was a hateful man. It's not about not leaving anything to his grandson. It's about the nasty words he left to hurt a completely innocent child.

Judgmental, smug, and irrationally vindictive. No wonder Buckley was a Republican icon for so long.

[odoreida]

"It's about the nasty words he left to hurt a completely innocent child."

As bad as they may sound to lay people, the words Buckley used -- or rather the words Buckley's lawyer used -- are legal terms. It's not as if WFB were wishing the child were dead. And there's no reason why the child should ever see this will.

[odoreida]

I think that what WFB did in his will was completely reasonable. Christopher Buckley -- who has apparently inherited the lion's share of his parents' estate -- still has the option of passing money on to this child. I think that it has been left up to him. A grandparent has no obligation to leave money to a grandchild. He can even disinherit his own child, if he so chooses. The one person who cannot be completely left out of a person's will, is the person's wife.

[drumz]

Well then I guess you fall into the category of being an appeaser to the hate crowd, republicans.

[cheesewiz]

What he did was ugly and not becoming a so-called Catholic man. I believe Mr. Rogers faced the same set of circumstances and handled it like a true Christian-­-heartfelt letters to the child assuring him of his love. And to think I use to admire Buckley.

[CSE]

It's a juicy story to be sure - makes us look. Tabloid in nature.

That no legal reasons for the language in the will were explored is instructive.

[shengirl]

a loathsome man- this should temper a lot of the hosannahs people were singing after his death. It takes a big man to try to ruin a little boy.

[odoreida]

"It takes a big man to try to ruin a little boy."

How was WFB "ruining a little boy?" The little boy is already receiving substantial financial support from his father.

[drumz]

it's all about how you treat people troll.

[SimonNZ]

Good to see Buckley staying true his conservative values beyond the grave.

It's that wonderful hypocrisy of espousing "traditional family values" for everyone else while ignoring these rules within your own family that forms the bedrock of conservative social ideology.

[SouthPrairie]

Way to walk the family values talk. He is the reason so many loving women of faith have abortions--they could not bear the shame of their self-righteous families.

Pathetic.

A tree will be known by its fruit.

Stand proud Jonathan. You will be an awesome human being dispite your grandfather's inferior DNA.